Page:Blaise Pascal works.djvu/105



Faith indeed tells what the senses do not tell, but not the contrary of what they see. It is above them and not contrary to them.

How many stars have telescopes revealed to us which did not exist for our philosophers of old! We freely attack Holy Scripture on the great number of stars, saying, "There are only one thousand and twenty-eight, we know it." There is grass on the earth, we see it&mdash;from the moon we would not see it&mdash;and on the grass are leaves, and in these leaves are small animals; but after that no more.&mdash;O presumptuous man!&mdash;the compounds are composed of elements, and the elements not.&mdash;O presumptuous man! Here is a fine reflection.&mdash;We must not say that there is anything which we do not see.&mdash;We must then talk like others, but not think like them.

The last proceeding of reason is to recognise that there is an infinity of things which are beyond it. It is but feeble if it does not see so far as to know this. But if natural things are beyond it, what will be said of supernatural?

Submission.&mdash;We must know where to doubt, where to feel certain, where to submit. He who does not do so, understands not the force of reason. There are some who offend against these three rules, either by affirming everything as demonstrative, from want of knowing what demonstration is; or by doubting everything, from want of knowing where to submit; or by submitting in everything, from want of knowing where they must judge.

Submission is the use of reason in which consists true Christianity.